The One Who Will Save The World
by BranwenOSV
Summary: Professor Polendina's daughter is running out of time. General Ironwood proposes using her for an inhumane experiment, yet if successful, could save all of humanity forever. (Headcanon Theory)


**A/N: This story is based on a theory I (and many others) had about Penny since the big plot revelations revealed in V3C6, so I decided to make a one-shot about it.**

* * *

Professor Polendina entered the elevator and headed for the floor his daughter Penny was staying on. It was a daily routine he hated having to do, but what he hated more was that according to the doctor's reports, this was a routine that was unlikely to continue by the end of the week. While waiting to arrive on his daughter's floor, he took out a photo from his wallet. It was the last photo he had of Penny before the cancer took a turn for the worse. His daughter was smiling brightly while still having her beautiful orange hair and wearing her favorite pair of overalls.

He got off the elevator and headed to the room at the end of the hall. He took a deep breath and checked his eyes to make sure his tears weren't running; the last thing he wanted was to upset his daughter with his emotions.

Insider Penny's room, she was surrounded by pictures of her former self along with family and friends. They were meant to cheer her up, but it was Professor Polendina who needed it the most. Even with the knowledge that she didn't have much time before her life was going to end, and having several tubes and machines hooked up to her that made her appear more robotic than human, Penny was still somehow able to smile brightly through it all. Penny was reading her favorite book about a wooden puppet come to life when her father came in.

"Hello father," greeted Penny warmly.

"Hello my dear," said Polendina, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "How you holding up?"

"Same as always!"

"Have the doctors said anything new?"

"Nothing yet. How's work? Any new gadgets in the making?"

"Several, but you know I can't share those secrets outside of work."

"You can tell me! I won't tell another soul!"

"Promise you won't tell?"

"I promise!" said Penny, zipping her lips shut.

"Okay. As you know, Ironwood has been working on these machines meant for combat, right? Well, we've decided to upgrade the models to give them a more human look so people aren't so freaked out about their appearance. Frankly, I think it's a waste of time."

"I don't know father; I can kind of understand Mister Ironwood's reasons. Some people aren't comfortable with the way these robots look. Maybe if they appeared more human, people won't be so uncomfortable around them."

"Looks are no reason for someone to feel uncomfortable. You know that."

"I know father."

Before Polendina can continue, he suddenly got a message on his scroll. He took out his scroll and saw a message from Ironwood urging him to come back to their lab for a meeting. Polendina cursed under his breath for Ironwood's timing.

"Something wrong father?"

"Something work related has come up. I have to go."

"Okay then. See you later tonight?"

"Of course." Polendina leaned down to give his daughter a goodbye kiss. "I love you Penny."

"Love you too."

#

Ironwood was in his office, going over the designs for the new android his lab was working on. While the android was able to perform as expected, it needed a look that when seen by a normal person, didn't make it obvious that they were looking at a robot. So far, none of the designs stood out to him as the one to go with.

"Mister Ironwood," paged his secretary, "Professor Polendina is here."

"Send him in," replied Ironwood, putting his designs away as Polendina entered his office. "Professor, I'm glad you came considering your circumstances."

"That had better be important General," replied Polendina. "I'm supposed to be back at the hospital visiting my daughter."

"I'll make this brief then. We've been testing the android huntsman's capabilities, and so far it's performing exceptionally well."

"You had me come all the way here just to compliment me on my work?"

"But as well as it's performing, we believe it's time to take this program one step further."

"One step further? What did you have in mind?"

"Professor, are you aware of the four Maidens?"

"The seasons with great powers? What about them?"

"The Fall Maiden was attacked, and we fear that the assailant could inherit the Maiden's powers if the Maiden were to die under our watch."

"So I take it you want this android to go out and kill the assailant before it's too late?"

"If we knew where the assailant was we'd have dealt with them by now. Until then, we've been looking into other methods to make sure her powers do not fall into the wrong hands."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Depending on your answer, everything."

Ironwood took out a classified envelope and handed it to Polendina. Polendina skimmed through the papers and saw plans for a new type of machine involving two people being hooked up to the machine and transferring aura.

"Aura transfer?" asked Polendina. "You think you can transfer her aura to another person?"

"We believe so," said Ironwood. "The only problem is we don't know what would happen to either party should the experiment fail or succeed. That's why we need to find the right subjects to experiment on."

"In other words, human guinea pigs. I take it I'm here because you want to use the android as one of them."

"Actually Professor, it's not just the android we're interested in."

It didn't take long for Polendina to put two and two together, and was starting to get furious. "Ironwood, I swear to God if you say what I think you're about to say..."

"Professor, calm down and just think through this logically."

"Don't you even dare-"

"Professor, you know very well your daughter barely has a week left to live. So if anyone-"

Polendina didn't wait to let Ironwood finish, throwing the documents down and lunging for Ironwood over his desk. Ironwood grabbed Polendina by the shoulder with his right arm and gripped down; the force of his grip was enough to bring Polendina to his knees, who tried to reach up and grab Ironwood.

"How can you even think about using my daughter you son of a bitch?" yelled Polendina.

"Listen to me!" said Ironwood. "If this experiment is a success, it can be the breakthrough we need to combat our enemies-"

"Is that all you care about? My daughter is on the verge of death right now and the only thing you can think of is your God damn experiments?"

"The Fall Maiden is on the verge of death as well! I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen, because if it does, the whole world is going to suffer! Now are you going to calm down or do I have to use force?"

Polendina raised his hands up and surrendered; Ironwood slowly let go in case Polendina planned to attack again. Polendina stood and grabbed his coat and hat.

"I never thought it was possible to meet a man with less heart than a machine," said Polendina. "Now if you excuse me, I have to see my daughter."

"Wait Professor," said Ironwood. "I need you to hear me out about this."

"The answer is no James!"

"At least let me explain myself before you jump to a decision."

"Do you honestly think I would ever agree to let you use my daughter as one of your lab rats?"

"Again Professor, you need to let me explain and think this through logically. Please, take a seat."

The professor sat back down, not even bothering to take off his coat and hat this time.

"Despite what you assume about me Professor, I am not a heartless man. Heartless men do not fund research to better mankind; they go out and terrorize the world by murdering innocent people by the hundreds, nay thousands. I am seeking to save mankind, and I'm willing to look into alternative avenues that the public deems inhumane."

Ironwood reached into his desk and pulled out a folder containing all the information about Polendina and his daughter.

"It feels just like yesterday you called me and announced your daughter being born. Can't believe that was over seventeen years ago. We didn't have working prototypes of our first Atlesian Knights yet. My how times flies, huh Professor?"

"Get to the point James."

"Right. I want to talk about your daughter for a moment. What did Penny want to grow up to be?"

"She wanted to be a huntress. She had her sights set on joining the Atlas Academy until the cancer had spread too far."

"Interesting. Any reason she wanted to become one?"

"She wanted to be a hero that saved the world, and God bless her she had the skills to do it, both physically and emotionally."

"You know, being a huntress is a very risky job. Even a minor mistake can lead to your death out there."

"That's why I went into science; you wouldn't catch me dead trying to fight those Grimm. Honestly, I was hoping Penny would follow in my footsteps, but she was really passionate about being a huntress. Nevertheless, I supported her decision."

Ironwood went through the folder and pulled out Penny's medical history. "According to her medical records, she'll be an organ donor upon passing. Was that her decision?"

"Yes. Penny told me that since she won't become a huntress, it was another way she would be able to help people."

"It sounds like your daughter really cared about putting others first."

"She does that even now. There was never a day I didn't see her smile and act like it was just another day even when we all know..." Polendina had to pause to wipe a tear from his eye. "I tell you, if the reverse was happening, I would not be doing the same."

Ironwood took out a handkerchief and handed it to the professor. "Professor, it's clear your daughter wants to make a positive difference in the world, whether it's saving the world from Grimm or saving a few people with her body. So tell me, why not use her to make what could be the biggest positive in history?"

"Because this experiment requires her to be alive. It would require making her go through pain. I've already seen her in pain far too many times, and I'm not going to let her suffer anymore."

"Yes, this experiment will likely be a very painful procedure. But if we can successfully transfer her aura to the android, then we can do the same thing for the Fall Maiden; for all of the Maidens. Your daughter will be the catalyst for the procedure that will single-handedly bring Remnant to a new age of peace and prosperity. No longer will we fear the Grimm; no longer will we fear terrorists like the White Fang." Ironwood stood up and placed his hands on Polendina's shoulders. "Your daughter will literally save the world."

"If that's what you really believe...then so be it. You can do your experiment on one condition."

"Name it."

"Penny needs to approve of doing it, and you're going to tell her the truth about everything. The risks, the procedure, everything!"

"It's a deal."

Polendina stood up and shook Ironwood's hand, while praying in the back of his mind that Penny would reject Ironwood's proposition.

#

Later that night, Penny was just about done reading her book when Polendina returned along with Ironwood.

"Hello father!" said Penny. "Who is that with you?"

"Penny, I'd like you to meet Mister Ironwood," said Polendina. "He's the head of the Atlas Academy and the lab where I work."

"Salutations Mister Ironwood," greeted Penny, saluting the General.

"Hello Penny," said Ironwood. "Let me say it is an honor to meet you."

"Why thank you Mister Ironwood. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Mister Ironwood heard about your desire to be a huntress," said Polendina.

"Sorry Mister Ironwood, but I don't think I'll be able to attend your school."

"It's okay," said Ironwood. "Besides, I'm here for another reason. Penny, you love to help people, correct?"

"Of course! It's why I wanted to be a huntress!"

"Would you be willing to help others, even at the risk of your own life?"

"More than willing."

"James?" said Polendina, twirling his finger in the air as to tell him to stop with the sugarcoated introductions.

"Penny, have you heard of the story about the four Maidens?" asked Ironwood.

"Why yes," said Penny. "The four seasons who visit an old man and gain great powers for their kindness. I like that fairy tale."

"Well you see Penny, the thing about that fairy tale is...it isn't."

Ironwood went on to explain about the four Maidens, the situation revolving around the Fall Maiden, and how Ironwood may have found a way to save the Fall Maiden, but needed Penny to try out the experiment to make sure it worked.

"I see," said Penny. "That's...quite a tall order."

"It is. I'll understand if you don't want to go through with it. Just let me know as soon as-"

"I'll do it!" said Penny, shocking Ironwood and Polendina with her quick response.

"That's quite a hasty decision," said Ironwood. "Are you sure you don't need more time to think about it?"

"A huntress puts her own desires aside for the good of the people!"

"Excellent. I'll have everything prepared first thing in the morning. I'll send a medical team to have you safety transferred to our lab. You have my eternal thanks, Penny."

As soon as Ironwood left the room, Polendina locked the door so he can talk to Penny alone.

"Penny, you don't have to do this if you really don't want to."

"But I do want to do this father. If the safety of the Maidens is that important, I want to do my part to help."

"It is important, but you don't have to get involved in this. I don't want you to do this because you think you're being forced to."

Penny reached out and grabbed her father's hand. "Nobody is forcing me father; I want to do this. Even if the experiment is a failure, at least we tried."

Polendina leaned over and hugged his daughter as best he could. "I'm proud of you Penny. I couldn't have asked for a better daughter than you."

#

The next day, Penny was transferred to Ironwood's laboratory. The doctors were carefully inserting the wires into Penny's body; Penny was laying in a chair on the left side of the room, while on the opposite side sat the experimental android. Professor Polendina stood by Penny's side and was holding her hand tight to comfort her; or rather it was the opposite.

"It's going to be okay father," said Penny.

"Penny, if at any time you want this to stop, you just give me the signal and I'll have them end it right away. Don't even think twice about whether or not you should, understand?"

"I understand," said Penny, giving her father her trademark salute. Polendina gave his daughter one final kiss on the forehead.

"I love you Penny."

"Love you too dad!"

Polendina left the chamber and headed up to the room where Ironwood and the scientists were monitoring Penny and the android's signs. Ironwood pressed down on a button to speak to Penny.

"Penny, are you ready?"

"I'm ready Mister Ironwood!"

"All the preparations have been made and the machine is ready to go," said one of the scientists overlooking the controls.

"Begin the aura transfer."

As soon as the scientist flipped the switch, the machine began to drain Penny's aura. The wires hooked up to Penny started to glow green as the aura was transferred through the wires and into the android. Polendina kept his eyes on Penny at all times, waiting for her to give the signal.

"What's the status of Penny's aura?" asked Ironwood.

"Her aura levels are slowly depleting."

"As for her vitals?"

"Her vitals are still in the green."

Every second passing by was like a dagger into Polendina's heart. He wondered how Penny was able to withstand the procedure while her aura continued to be drained. Suddenly, one of the monitors started to beep frequently.

"What's going on?" asked Ironwood.

"The patient's pulse is starting to drop. Her aura is currently below 50%."

Polendina turned to her daughter and was waiting for her to give the signal. That's when he noticed that she was gripping the handles of her chair real tight and was clenching her teeth. She was in severe pain but refused to have the procedure stopped.

"Shut it down!" yelled Polendina. "Shut it down now!"

"Professor, we can't stop in the middle of the procedure!" said Ironwood.

"She's in pain! You either stop this now or I'll stop it myself!"

"Get a hold of yourself professor!"

Polendina tried to go over to the controls and stop the machine when Ironwood grabbed Polendina with his right arm and gripped tight, forcing Polendina to remain where he was standing. He could only watch as his daughter continued to bear with the pain in order to finish the aura transfer.

"Aura at 3%...2%...1%...zero! Disengaging the transfer!"

The machine immediately stopped draining from Penny and continued transferring the rest of the aura into the android. As soon as it was over, Polendina pressed down on the speaker button to talk to Penny.

"Penny, this is your father! Tell me you're okay!"

Penny opened her eyes and raised her hand to salute her father, smiling as wide as she could. Her arm soon lost strength, her smile quickly faded, and her eyes shut for good.

"Penny! Open your eyes Penny! PENNY!"

"What are the girl's vitals?" asked Ironwood.

"Mister Ironwood...the girl's vitals have all reached zero."

Hearing those words caused Polendina to lose all feeling in his legs. The doctors immediately entered the chamber to double check on the girls status as Ironwood helped Polendina back up.

"I'm terribly sorry Professor."

Polendina couldn't process a thing right now. All he can do was watch as the doctors unhooked Penny and stretchered her body out of the chamber.

"Someone take the professor to the medical room," said Ironwood. A couple guards came in and escorted Polendina out of the room.

"Mister Ironwood, what should we do now?"

"Turn on the android. It's time to find out if the transfer was a success."

"Of course. Activating the android."

The android opened its eyes and stood up. The scientist inputted the commands for the android to attempt to generate a ball of energy with its aura. Everyone watched with anticipation to see if the transfer was a success. The android brought its hands closer and started to emit a bright green light.

"Tell me that's what I think it is." The scientist began scanning the android and analyzing the type of energy it was outputting.

"IT'S AURA!" shouted the scientist. The room burst immediately into celebration at the success of the experiment.

"Ladies and gentlemen," announced Ironwood, "you are witnessing the birth of the most groundbreaking moment in science history. Behold, the one who will save the world."

As great as that moment was, not everyone in that building was celebrating. In another part of the building, the doctors were checking on Penny and were only able to confirm that she had passed away from the lack of aura depleting what little protection she had from the cancer. Polendina didn't care if the experiment was a success or not; he already lost the person that mattered the most.

#

A couple days later, Ironwood, Polendina, and several of their colleagues attended Penny's funeral. Everyone was shedding a tear and giving Polendina their condolences; except for Ironwood, remaining stoic as he always was. He walked up to Polendina and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Just know that all of your bills involving Penny will be covered by me. All I want you to do now is go home and take as much time off as you need. Your daughter was a brave woman Polendina; it would have been honor to have her in my academy."

Once Ironwood was done, he headed back to his limo when he walked past Ozpin and Goodwitch. Before he left, he heard Goodwitch mutter something under her breath.

"Did you say something Glynda?" asked Ironwood.

"You have some nerve showing up here after what you've done," said Goodwitch.

"What I've done is give us an opportunity to save us from further tragedy."

"Do you have even a bit of remorse for what you've put this man through?"

"Of course I do, but I know how to control my emotions and focus on the task at hand. That's why I'm making breakthroughs in warfare while you and Ozpin simply twiddle your thumbs."

Knowing how Goodwitch was going to respond, Ozpin quickly placed himself in front of Goodwitch to remind her they were in a public place, and that whatever she wanted to do to him would have to wait. Goodwitch continued to swear under her breath as Ironwood went into his limo and headed back to work.

#

Ironwood was back in his office, continuing his work as usual, when he received a call from one of the scientists working on the android with Penny's aura.

"Ironwood speaking."

"Sir, we've received your schematics for the android and...we have some concerns."

"What kind of concerns?"

"Our first concern is with the name for the android."

"Is there a problem with it?"

"Not per se, but shouldn't we come up with something more concise to the android's actual purpose? This name sounds like you strung random words together."

"I have my reasons for the name. Anything else?"

"Our other major concern is the personality software you've asked us to program. The personality seems counter-intuitive for what we're trying to accomplish."

"The android's personality is part of the process to make it appear as human as possible in the public eye."

"That reminds me; the look you've chosen for the android doesn't fit what we've had in mind."

"Oh? What exactly did you have in mind?"

"No offense Mister Ironwood, but if this android is supposed to be Remnant's savior, shouldn't it have a more robust look to it?"

"If you can't design the android the way I've asked you to, perhaps I need to hire someone who will."

"Understood sir. We've have the design completed in a few days."

#

A week had gone by quickly. Ironwood and his men were working around the clock completing the prototypes of their upcoming arsenal they planned to bring to Vale. Right now they were in a board meeting to discuss their plans for visiting Vale during the Vytal Festival.

"We'll set up an event during the pre-tournament ceremonies," said Ironwood. "We'll display our new Atlesian Knights, followed by a preview of the Paladins. Now I've received word of intense criminal activity happening in Vale by the White Fang, so we'll need to keep our guard up at all times."

As Ironwood continued with the meeting, somebody entered the boardroom. Everyone turned around and were surprised to see Professor Polendina arrive unannounced and taking a seat.

"Welcome back Professor," said Ironwood. "We were just going over our plans for the Vytal Festival. Moving on..."

Ironwood continued his speech and wrapped up the meeting without a hitch. Everyone save for him and Polendina left the boardroom.

"You're back earlier than scheduled Professor," said Ironwood. "How have you been doing this past week?"

"It was hard the first few days," said Polendina, "but I know my daughter would want me to move on eventually. I probably would have come in to work sooner, but to be honest...I've been considering resigning."

"I'd hate to see you go Professor. You're one of my best men here."

"I know I am. The problem is...I'm not sure how to feel about working for you. Part of me wants to despise you for the way you used my daughter, yet at the same time, you were generous enough to cover all the bills and ultimately give her the decision to go forward with the experiment."

"...I see. I could tell you how much I've appreciated your work, but it doesn't sound like words are going to be enough, is it?"

"You're a smart man James. If your heart wasn't inversely proportional to that brain of yours, you'd be a better man. So unless you have a better way of showing me your appreciation, I'll be handing in my two weeks notice."

"I believe I have the perfect way to show you. I'd like you to accompany me for a moment."

Ironwood escorted Polendina to the elevator and headed down to the basement level where the android huntsman was being kept.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to meet the android huntsman you built."

"You mean the android that has my daughter's aura?" asked Polendina, a hint of bile building up in his voice. Despite being the key-creator of the android, he didn't want to see the android he felt was partially responsible for his daughter's death.

"Thanks to your daughter, we're making remarkable strides with the android huntsman. She's now performing at least five times as strongly than she was before the aura transfer."

"So the android is a 'she' now? Does it have a nickname like the rest of your garbage?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

Ironwood went up to a room with a heavily reinforced door. He took out his ID card and swiped it through the door's ID reader, than entered the secret code to open the door. Ironwood opened the door and let Polendina enter first. When Polendina entered, he was surprised to see the room appear to look like a normal teenager's bedroom, complete with a bed, dresser and a desk where someone was currently sitting reading a book.

Upon seeing the person already in the room, he had to do a double take. From the back, the person had curly orange hair with a pink bow and a gray blouse with overalls. It was eerily similar to the way his daughter used to dress.

"What's going on?" asked Polendina. "Who is she?"

"This is the android we've codenamed the Physical Embodiment of Neurological Nanobots Yearning," said Ironwood, "or P.E.N.N.Y. for short." Upon hearing her name, Penny turned around and smiled when she saw Ironwood. Polendina was shocked to see the android also have the same bright green eyes and freckles that his daughter had.

"Salutations!" said Penny. "My name is Penny! What is your name?"

"Penny, this is Professor Polendina, who had a major hand in creating you. In a way, he's your father."

"It's a pleasure to meet you professor! So if you are my father, that would make me your daughter, yes?"

Polendina could barely form any words upon seeing the android for the first time. Her looks, her voice, her demeanor...it was nearly a perfect match of the real Penny.

"Penny...my daughter..."

"So Professor, how does this do for showing appreciation?"

"I...you really..." Polendina covered his eyes with one hand to stop himself from crying, while holding out his other hand towards Ironwood. "Thank you, James."

"It's you and your daughter that need to be thanked," said Ironwood, shaking Polendina's hand.

"I don't understand," said Penny. "Thank me for what?"

"I'll explain later," said Polendina. "So Penny, I see you were reading a book. You like books?"

"Yes I do Professor! I especially-"

"Please Penny, I'm your father. No need to call me Professor."

"Right! Well father, I especially like this one book..."

Ironwood left the room, letting Polendina and Penny get to know each other.


End file.
